Problem: Express this quotient in scientific notation: ${\frac{1.800\times 10^{4}} {2.0\times 10^{1}}}$
Start by collecting like terms together. $= {\frac{1.800} {2.0}} \times{\frac{10^{4}} {10^{1}}}$ Then divide each term separately. When dividing exponents with the same base, subtract their powers. $= 0.90 \times 10^{4\,-\,1}$ $= 0.90 \times 10^{3}$ To write the answer correctly in scientific notation, the first number needs to be between $1$ and $10$ . In this case, we need to move the decimal one position to the right without changing the value of our answer. $ $ We can use the fact that $0.90$ is the same as $9.00 \div 10$ , or $9.00 \times 10^{-1}$ $ = {9.00 \times 10^{-1}} \times 10^{3} $ $= 9.00\times 10^{2}$